Blood Soaked Arrows to the Heart (Rewrite)
by CrimsonAdri
Summary: This is a rewrite of my story Blood Soaked Arrows to the Heart with two added characters and changes. I suck at summaries sometimes and this is one of those times. This is a Daryl/OC follows seasons 1-3. You can read the old version if you'd like. There is a sequel up but I'll have to change it once I'm done with this one.
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead its plot or characters I do however own my OCs and any changes I make._**

 ** _Summary: This is a rewrite of my story Blood Soaked Arrows to the Heart with two added characters and changes. I suck at summaries sometimes and this is one of those times. This is a Daryl/OC. You can read the old version if you'd like. There is a sequel up but I'll have to change it once I'm done with this._**

 **I've decided to rewrite this series just to make it better and I'm adding a character. I'm gunna say this now I've only watched like half of season 4 but this story like the last version of it will only be seasons 1 – 3. The fourth, and fifth if I get around to watching it, will be their own story.**

 **Since I had no idea what to rename this I'm just gunna stick with the old name. Once I have a few chapters of this up I'm going to add "rewrite up" on the old stories description. Reviews are very much appreciated.**

 **Oh and since I'm pretty much just editing the old doc files on my computer it shouldn't take forever for me to update. I'm going to update every Saturday and Sunday if possible.  
**

* * *

Daryl Dixon was out hunting for food for the rest of the group. A string of squirrels and a few rabbits were tied to his waist. He was tracking a deer through the woods. The deer had stopped in the middle of a tiny clearing. Daryl smirked and raised his crossbow. He took aim but before he could shoot the deer looked up towards the east. Daryl frowned and was about to take the shot when the deer ran off. He cursed under his breath and was about to get up from his kneeling position when he heard twigs snapping and leaves crunching as something was making its way quickly towards the clearing. Daryl watched as a young boy with short black hair ran into view, behind him a _very_ hungry walker. The boy didn't look any older than thirteen. He turned to look behind him at the walker and tripped. Daryl winced as the kid hit the ground hard. The boy turned himself over and started to shuffle backwards.

Suddenly a crossbow bolt pierced its skull and it fell over in front of the boy. The boy stared at it before getting up quickly and looking around for the source. Daryl walked out and over to him. The boy was panting too heavily to say anything. Daryl yanked the bolt from the Walkers head and started to walk away. The boy swallowed and caught his breath.

"W-Wait!" he called. Daryl stopped and looked back at him.

"What?" he snapped. The boy swallowed again.

"You… you wouldn't just leave a kid by himself would you?" The boy asked. "I'll die out here!" Daryl sighed.

"Come on then, kid." he said as he started to walk away. When he didn't hear the kid behind him he turned to see the kid biting his lip. "What now?"

"My.. Uh my sister is …" The boy pointed back the way he'd come from. "She's waiting."

"Then run on back to 'er." Daryl said before he started to walk away again. "Make up yer mind." he muttered to himself.

"By myself?" The boy squeaked. Daryl walked back over to him.

"What's yer name kid?"

"Tyler. Tyler Knight."

"How old are ya?"

"Twelve, sir."

"Don' call me sir." Daryl said as he walked past him. "Name's Daryl. Let's go get yer sister." he said with a sigh.

"Thank you." Tyler said. "You won't regret this. My sister knows how to shoot a bow and arrow and our older brother taught us how to hunt and our dad taught me how to fish… though I don't suppose you have a fishing rod? We can probably find one somewhere. We were going to head into the city to see if we could find anything. I told my sister I'd scout ahead. I can be very sneaky. I once got past three walkers without them knowing… though that wasn't in the woods, that was when everything started…"

"Kid?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Got it."

* * *

Tyler led Daryl to a large tree and stopped.

"So where is she?" Daryl asked with a frown. Tyler looked up and smiled.

"Who's he?" Daryl looked up to see a woman with long black hair, braided to one side, sitting up on a branch. She had two backpacks on, one on her front the other on her back, and another under her arm while her other arm held onto the tree.

"Don't worry," Tyler said. "He's cool. He saved be from a bunch of Zoms." Daryl raised an eyebrow and looked at Tyler.

"A bunch, huh?" he said. Typer flashed him a smile.

"He's got a camp." Tyler said. "Come on down, would ya?"

"Catch." The woman said before she dropped the third back pack she was holding.

"Whoa!" Tyler caught it but stumbled back a bit. He put it on as the woman climbed down. "This is Daryl." Tyler said. "Daryl this is my sister-"

"Kira." She said as she hopped down the last three feet and turned around. Daryl nodded once in greeting. The backpack on her front moved and Daryl realized it wasn't a backpack as Kira put down the little girl who peeked up at Daryl from inside her hoodie. She looked to be around three or four.

"That's Lilly." Tyler said as the little girl hugged Kira's legs. "Found her alone in a house a few weeks ago."

"So where's this camp?" Kira asked. Daryl sighed and motioned to follow him. "We have some medical supplies we picked up on the way here if anyone in your camp is injured." Kira said. Daryl didn't reply but nodded. Kira picked Lilly up, putting her on her hip, and the two followed Daryl.

* * *

The four returned to camp and while Kira and Tyler stopped to look around Daryl kept walking calling for a 'Merle'.

"Wonder who's in charge." Tyler muttered.

"That would be me." The two turned to see a man walking up to them. "Shane Walsh. Who are you?"

"Daryl brought us back." Tyler said quickly.

"I'm Kira, this is my brother Tyler." Kira said. "And this is Lilly." Lilly peeked out at him. Some of her blond hair poked out from her hood. Daryl walked back over.

"There was a walker after the kid, scared off my deer." Daryl said. Shane turned back to the three.

"We have some supplies." Tyler said motioning to their backpacks.

"It'd be nice not to have to sleep in trees for once." Kira said. "We know how to hunt, fish, cook."

"Please let us stay." Tyler said.

"You're not bit anywhere are you?" Shane asked. The two shook their heads.

"Nope." Tyler said.

"You have any food?" he asked. The two nodded. "Alright, children get fed first, then women then what's left over goes to everyone else." The two nodded again.

"We also have medical supplies." Kira said.

"Great. Just put those in the RV." Shane said pointing. "Just ask Dale where to put 'em. He's the man on top."

"Got it." Tyler said.

"I'll go put them away, you watch Lilly." Kira said as she put the little girl down. Lilly frowned wanting to be picked up again but Tyler ruffled her hair which made her smile. Merle made his way over and when he noticed the newcomers made a long whistle.

"Mighty fine catch there, baby brotha'!" Merle said putting an arm around Daryl's shoulders. "Gunna share?" Merle smirked at Kira who frowned and leaned away. Daryl frowned and shook him off.

"Shut up, Merle." Daryl muttered.

"Wanna bump uglies?" Merle asked as he moved to get closer to Kira.

"Touch me and you're gunna end up on the ground." she said backing up a bit.

"Tha' a promise?" He chuckled and reached over anyway. She grabbed his arm and flipped him over her back. He hit the ground hard and cursed. "Bitch!" he growled. Tyler quickly covered Lilly's ears with a frown.

"Warned you." she said with a shrug as she looked down at him. He got up and went to grab her again.

"Hey!" Shane shouted. Kira grabbed Merle's arm again and twisted it away before quickly sweeping her leg to knock him off his feet. He hit the ground again and groaned.

"Did I mention my sister knows self defense?" Tyler asked with a smirk as he looked down at Merle. Merle glared at him.

"Why don' ya teach it ta him?" Daryl asked nodding towards Tyler. "He would'a been able to take care'a that walker."

"You call 'em walkers?" Tyler asked.

"Well it's a lot harder to fight someone who wants to eat you." Kira said. "My daddy taught me CQC: Close Quarters Combat."

"You're just full of surprises." Merle muttered as he stood, he glared at her and her brother before walking away. "Come on, we gotta skin these!" he shouted to Daryl. Daryl huffed and followed his brother.

"Watch out for Dixon's especially Merle." Shane said.

"I think Daryl's cool." Tyler said with a shrug.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone." Shane said.

"You mean we can stay?" Tyler asked with a big smile.

"Of course. We wouldn't just leave someone to fend for themselves in this world. Especially kids." Shane said with a friendly smile at Kira. Kira smiled back slightly.

"Thank you." she said.

"No problem." he said before he led the three over to some people.

* * *

The three met pretty much everyone. After about a half hour a group consisting of, Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, Jacqui, Morales, and Merle were getting ready to head into the city for a supplies run. Tyler walked down the little pathway all the tents were on and finally found Daryl and Merle's.

"Daryl you in there?" he asked standing outside the tent. He put his hand on the tent. "Dar-"

"What?" Tyler jumped and spun around to face Daryl who was giving him a weird look.

"C-Can I borrow your knife?" he asked. Daryl frowned.

"Wha' for?"

"I'm gunna make a bow and arrows for Kira… can't be that hard." he said with a shrug. Daryl sighed and took out his knife holding the handle side to him.

"Don' cut yourself, we don' have any disinfectant." Daryl said. Tyler nodded and took the knife.

"Thanks."

"Whatever." Daryle said going into his tent. Tyler went over to a tree and twisted and cut some thin, yet strong, branches off. He made a pile and walked over to the RV.

"Hey Dale?" He called up to the man. Dale looked over the side.

"Yeah?"

"Could I sit up there and make some arrows?" he asked.

"Don't see why not, I'd enjoy the company." Dale said with a smile. Tyler smiled and climbed up. He laid all the sticks down and started working on the first one.

* * *

Kira had left Lilly with Carl and Sophie who were being watched by Lori.

"Hey Daryl?" Kira asked from outside his tent.

"What?" Daryl growled.

"Jeez, I was just gunna ask if you've seen Tyler." she said. She heard Daryl sigh and a moment later he came out. He rolled his eyes and looked at her.

"Did ya check the top of the RV?" he asked. Kira shook her head and turned to see Dale and Tyler talking on top of the RV. "Yer welcome." Daryl said going back into his tent.

"Thanks.." Kira muttered before walking away.

* * *

Lori didn't notice Lilly walk away from her and the other kids and over to the Dixon tent. She peeked in and saw Merle loading his gun and Daryl laying on his side of the tent. Merle noticed her peeking in and frowned.

"Git outta here, kid." he said. Lilly blinked. "Go on, git!" Merle snapped. Lilly flinched slightly.

"Leave the kid alone, Merle." Daryl said.

"Nosy brat."

"Rawr!" The two brothers blinked and looked at the girl who was attempting to glare. It only took a moment before Merle burst out laughing.

"What the fuck was that?" Merle managed to get out.

" 'ey, language." Daryl said. "It's a kid."

"I don' fuckin care." Merle said. "Kid's gunna hear it anyway. Go find yer mama, girl." Lilly, who had been pouting about her fail attempt at seeming threatening, started to frown and looked down at her feet. Daryl's face softened slightly.

"Kira ain't her ma." he said to Merle. Merle noticed the little girl starting to cry and sighed.

"How the hell was I supposed ta know that." he muttered. "Don' cry, kid." Lilly sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeves.

"Lilly," Daryl said and she looked at him. "Go find Kira or Tyler." Lilly sniffled again and nodded.

* * *

After a while the group that was going for a supply run left and Tyler finished Kira's arrows.

"Hey, um, would you mind if I kept this stuff in the RV for now?" Tyler asked Dale.

"Not at all, go right ahead." Dale said.

"Thanks Dale." Tyler grabbed all the arrows he'd made and got down before going into the RV. He put all the makeshift arrows on the table before going back outside. He wanted to get a think piece of wood for the bow. He walked along the outer woods and finally found a branch that looked thick enough. Only thing was it was a little high. He tried hacking at it with Daryl's knife but it could just barely reach. He sighed but let out a gasp as someone took the knife from him. He looked up to see Daryl behind him. Daryl reached up and cut the branch before handing it to him. "Thanks."

"Need my knife back; goin huntin'." Daryl said before he started to walk away with it.

"Can I come with you?" Tyler asked.

"No." Daryl said not even turning around.

"I bet Kira would wanna go." Tyler called after him.

"Good for her."

…

Later, Dale was working on the RV with Jim while Amy was pacing and Kira was sitting nearby with Lilly on her lap.

"Boy, that hose isn't long for this world, is it?" Dale asked.

"No sir." Jim said.

"Where the hell are we gunna find a replacement?" Dale asked with a sigh.

"Maybe they'll have found one in the city." Kira said with a shrug.

"It's late. They should've been back by now." Amy said.

"Worrying won't make it better." Dale said. Shane was teaching Carl to tied knots, while Lori stared at them.

"Attaboy."

"Yeah."

"And three, two, one… pull it." Shane said.

"Ah! Aw." They both laughed.

"Start it over. Make your "p" the other way… around your finger."

"Oops."

"Good, just tie it like around your finger. Attaboy." Suddenly the radio squawked.

"Hello, base camp!" T-Dog said. "Can anybody out there hear me? Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me?" Dale climbed up and took the radio.

"Hello? Hello? Reception's bad on this end. Repeat. Repeat." Dale said.

"Shane, is that you?" T-Dog asked.

"Is that them?" Lori asked.

"We're in some deep shit. We're trapped in the department store."

"He said they're trapped?" Shane asked.

"There are geeks all over the place. Hundreds of 'em. We're surrounded."

"T-Dog, repeat that last. Repeat." Dale said. The radio stopped.

"He said the department store." Lori said.

"I heard it too." Dale said.

"Shane?" Lori asked.

"No way." He said. "We do not go after them. We do not risk the rest of the group. Y'all know that."

"So we're just gunna leave her there?" Amy asked.

"Look, Amy, I know that this is not easy…" Shane said.

"She volunteered to go to help the rest of us." Amy said.

"I know, and she knew the risks, right? See, if she's trapped, she's gone. So we just have to deal with that. There's nothing we can do."

"She's my sister, you son of a bitch." Amy hissed before storming off. Lori looked at Shane and then followed Amy. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Amy…"

"Come on. It's all right, buddy." Shane said to Carl.

"You shouldn't just give up so easily." Kira said walking up to Shane with Lilly on her hip. "They'll figure something out."

"You have so much faith in them yet you only just met them." Shane said.

"You all survived this long; they have to be smart." Kira said. "What if you sent a smaller group after them?"

"We don't risk the rest of the group." Shane said.

"You keep thinkin' like that soon you'll have no one left." Kira said quietly. Shane just looked at her for a moment before leading Carl away.

…

Kira left Lilly with the other kids again and had gotten back on top of the RV. She was looking up at the sky when she heard a car alarm. With a raised eyebrow she looked in the direction of the noise and saw something red speeding along the road heading towards camp. She stood up and looked to Dale.

"Tell me you see that too." She said. He looked over and his eyebrows went up.

* * *

 **So I'm rewriting this. Two new characters Lilly and Tyler. Kira is 26 (I think in the other one I made her like 19 and I don't know why.) Tyler is 13 and Lilly is 4. This is going to be similar to the old version but it will be different in some aspects since there's new characters. I hope you guys enjoy this! ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead its plot or characters I do however own my OCs and any changes I make._**

 ** _Second chapter yay. Next one out next Saturday. Thank you to everyone who reviews, Follows and favorites._**

 ** _So I was checking YouTube notifications last night after working on this and I got a like from a "Kira Dixon" what are the odds of THAT._**

 ** _BEFORE YOU READ, go back to the first chapter I added a scene that I forgot about. It's right before the group leaves to go to the city. It's not that long, it'll take about a minute to read._**

"Talk to me, Dale!" Shane said as he jogged up to the RV. Dale had grabbed his binoculars.

"I can't tell yet." he said.

"Well it's a car alarm." Kira said.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asked.

"I'll be damned." Dale muttered as he saw the red car coming down the road.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"A stolen car is my guess." Dale said. The car pulled up next to the other cars and Glenn got out. "Holy crap. Turn that damn thing off!" Dale shouted.

"I don't know how!" Glenn shouted over the noise. Shane and Amy ran up to him.

"Pop the hood, please." Shane said.

"My sister Andrea…" Amy said.

"Pop the damn hood, please." Shane said. "Pop the damn hood!" Shane repeated.

"What? Okay okay. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah!" Glenn said getting back into the car.

"Is she okay? Is she all right?" Amy asked. Glenn popped the hood so Shane could disconnect the battery to turn the alarm off.

"She's okay! She's okay!" Glenn said.

"Is she coming back?" Amy asked.

"Yes!" Glenn shouted.

"Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's okay?"

"Yes! Yeah, fine. Everybody is." Glenn said. "Well, Merle not so much."

"Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles? Shane asked.

"I think we're okay." Dale said.

"You call being stupid okay?" Shane asked him.

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. I'm not arguing. I'm just saying." Dale pointed to Glenn. "It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" Dale asked.

"Sorry. Got a cool car." Glenn said. The van pulled up. Andrea got out of the back of the truck and ran over.

"Amy." she said.

"Andrea!"Amy gasped. Andrea ran up to Amy and the two sisters hugged.

"Oh!"

"Oh my god! You scared the shit out of me." Amy cried. Morales got out of the truck and his wife and children ran up to him.

"Papi!"

"Daddy!"

"Hey. Come here, sweetie. Hey. I told you I'd be back, didn't I?" Morales said.

"You are a welcome sight." Dale said. Dale and Morales hugged and laughed. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure."

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked.

"New guy… he got us out." Glenn said.

"New guy?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town. Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello." Morales called. Rick Grimes got out of the van and started walking over. "The guy's a cop like you." Morales said to Shane. Rick walked up and Shane was the first to see him. Carl and Lori then turned over and Carl saw Rick. Rick also saw Carl and Lori.

"Oh my god." he said. Carl ran up to Rick.

"Dad! Dad!" Rick took Carl in his arms, crying.

"Carl. Oh!" He kissed Carl on the cheek and approached Lori before he hugged them both. Shane looked surprised to see Rick, but didn't look as happy as he should've been. He feigned a smile as Lori looked at him. Rick smiled at him and Shane smiled back. Kira looked around.

"Um… where's Merle?" she asked. Glenn and the others looked a little nervous. "Is he…"

"We had to leave him behind." Glenn said.

"Daryl won't be too happy." Kira said biting her lip.

"Well you can deal with that later, he went hunting." Tyler said.

 **SPACE LINE BREAK**

Later that night, everyone sat around a camp fire. Rick was explaining what happened to him when he woke up in the hospital. Lori said beside him and Carl laid against his chest.

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion, all those things but… Disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short." Dale said.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else." Rick said. "For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."

"Mom said you died." Carl said as he looked up at Rick. Lori stroked his hair.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it." Rick said to him. Lori looked over at Shane briefly.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gunna med-evac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." Lori said.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." Rick said.

"Yeah." Lori nodded.

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't deceive." Shane said. "I barely got them out, you know?"

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." Rick said.

"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things." Dale said. Nearby, Ed put another log on his fire making it flare up.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane asked.

"It's cold, man." Ed said.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once." Ed said. Shane got up and walked over to Ed's fire.

"Hey, Ed… Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane asked in a quiet voice.

"Go on. Pull the damn thing out." Ed said to his wife. "Go on!" Carol pulled the log out of the fire while Sophia, their daughter, watched.

"Christ." Shane said before stomping the flames out. "Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?" Shane asked.

"Fine. We're just fine." Carol said.

"Okay." Shane said.

"I'm sorry about the fire." Carol apologized.

"No no no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?"

"Thank you."

"I appreciate the cooperation." Shane rejoined the other group. He sat down next to Kira. He noticed her shiver slightly and rub Lilly's back as the girl slept, and moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. She looked over at him and he smiled, rubbing her arm. She smiled back thankfully. Tyler noticed this and frowned.

"So what's your story, Kira?" Shane asked.

"Shane, don't pry." Lori said.

"No, no it's okay." Kira said. "Tyler and I, we were with a couple of my friends on a road-trip. No particular destination. Tyler only came because our parents thought it would be a good idea for his summer vacation. We were actually heading back; we were in Tennessee when the whole 'walker' thing started. We were in a hotel… my friend Hannah got attacked…"

 ** _Flashback_**

"Zombies?" Tyler asked looking at the TV. Kira frowned as she watched beside him. It couldn't be real; it had to be some weird movie trailer.

"Kira! Where'd you put my card to the room? I can't find it." Hannah said looking through her stuff. She was a year younger than Kira and 13 years older than Tyler.

"It's _your_ card; you should keep track of it." Mary said. Mary was the oldest being about two months older than Kira.

"Maybe you dropped it outside." Kira suggested. "I'll go with you, come on."

"Thanks Kira." Hannah said. The two girls left the room and walked down the halls. They got outside and went over to the car. "I'll look around, you look inside." Kira nodded and got in the car to look. Suddenly she heard Hannah scream and quickly got out of the car. She gasped and stared in horror as a bloodied man was biting into Hannah's neck.

"H-Hannah…" Kira stood a few feet away frozen. Other people who heard the screaming, including Mary and Tyler, ran outside to see what was happening.

"Hannah!" Mary screamed when she saw Hannah who was now on the ground, dead, still being eaten by the blood covered man. Tyler, like his sister, was frozen on the spot. " _Kira_!" Mary grabbed Tyler's hand, ran over and grabbed Kira. Mary shoved Kira into the passenger's seat and Tyler into the back before running to the driver's side. She quickly started the car, drove over the curb and started driving down the road. Kira was still frozen in shock and Tyler was shaking.

"What just happened?" Tyler whimpered. Mary looked back at him briefly before looking at Kira.

"It was real…" Kira breathed. Mary looked back to the road speeding up. "Hannah…"

"Kira-" Mary started.

"Hannah's dead!" Kira looked over to Mary, sobbing. "That... that _thing_ was eating her!"

"Kira, snap out of it! I need you thinking clearly. We have to get somewhere safe. We left all our things back at the hotel." Mary cursed under her breath. "Kira, do you have your phone on you?" Mary asked.

"Wh-Wha?"

"Your phone!"

"Y-Yeah!"

"Call your parents."

"What?"

"Check on your parents."

"Do you think they're in danger?!"

"People are eating people... everyone's in danger. We don't know how far and fast this will spread."

"Maybe it's just some people high on bath salts. This can't really be a zombie outbreak." Kira said shaking her head.

" _Wake up_ , Kira. We've been hearing these things on the news for the past few days, it's real. You saw… Hannah." Kira swallowed and dialed her parents.

"I wanna go home." Tyler said as he started to cry.

 ** _Flashback end_**

"I called the house but no one would answer..." Kira said quietly. She cleared her throat; she was getting a little choked up. "We uh… We went back home and… found the house… both our houses, empty. Mary looked for her younger sister, Chelsea, and I looked for our older brother, Daniel. We... we didn't find Chelsea b-but we found Da-Daniel.. he tried to…" She swallowed again and noticed Tyler had his head down and was covering his ears with his eyes closed. "Mary... she took a fence post and…" Kira sniffed and wiped her eyes. "About a week or two later, the three of us were getting supplies and…I didn't check the basement in the house. Tyler and I went upstairs and when we went back downstairs… Three walkers were attacking Mary. She told us to run... so we did. She had the keys on her so we had to go on foot. I found an old truck and we were able to get to Georgia. We were holed up in house for a few days then we decided to try to make it to Atlanta. We searched a few places along the way, that's when we found Lilly." Kira put a hand on the back of the girl's head. "Her parents must have turned. We found her crying in a closet that had been barricaded. Her parents must have done it before they turned to protect her. We got what we could from the surrounding houses before going into the woods. Tyler went to scout ahead a few days ago and that's when Daryl saved him. And that's it." Kira concluded. She glanced around at everyone; they all had sympathetic looks on their faces. Kira put an arm around Tyler who moved closer to her and rested his head against her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Shane said quietly. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No it's fine." Kira said.

"How was your life before all this?" Amy asked. Kira smiled.

"Normal." She said. "Tyler had school, I had a job, friends, a family, crushes. We used to go hunting with our brother. He taught me to use a bow and arrow." She said with a smile.

"Speaking of hunting, have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? " Dale asked. "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me." T-Dog said.

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick said.

"Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn said.

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gunna hide from him." T-Dog said.

"We could lie." Amy suggested.

"Or tell the truth." Andrea said. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary." She told Lori. "And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise… we're gunna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog said.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asked.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that… Not that chain, not that padlock. My point… Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." T-Dog said before getting up.

…

"Kira." Dale said. "You, Tyler and Lilly can sleep in the RV. We don't have any extra tents available besides the Dixon's…"

"Thanks Dale." Kira said standing up with Lilly. "Come on, Ty."

"There's room in my tent." Shane said as he stood. "Tyler could stay with me, give you girls more room."

"Thanks Shane." Kira said with a smile. Tyler frowned slightly but didn't say anything. " _Tyler_." Kira said.

"Thanks." Tyler muttered before he followed Shane to his tent.

 **SPACE LINE BREAK**

The next morning Kira approached Glenn, who was visibly upset that Dale had torn apart some of the parts on the car that he brought in.

"Daryl get back yet?" Kira asked.

"You didn't hear angry yelling, did you?" Glenn asked with a weak smile. Kira chuckled slightly and nodded. Rick walked up to the two.

"Look at 'em. Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean." Glenn said.

"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn." Dale said patting his arm.

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days." Glenn said to Rick.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick said patting his arm before walking away to Lori. Shane drove back into the camp with water.

"Water's here, y'all. Just a reminder to boil before use." he said getting out. Kira patted Glenn on the back before walking over to Carol.

"Need any help?" Kira asked.

"Oh no, it's fine." she said with a small smile.

"You sure? I kinda feel useless since I got here. Not much use for me when Daryl's already out hunting." She chuckled. Carol smiled.

"Well if you really need something to do-" Carol was cut off by screaming.

"Mom!" Carl yelled.

"Carl?" Lori called. Everyone started to race down to the screaming.

"It's over there!"

"Dad!" Carl yelled.

"Kira!" Tyler yelled.

"Baby!" Lori called.

"Tyler!" Kira ran behind Lori and Rick.

"Mama! Mommy!" A girl yelled.

"Rick!" Jim tossed Rick a long stick with a sharpened point.

"Carl!" Rick shouted.

"Over here, boy! Come on, come on!"

"Carl! Baby!"

"Mom!"

"I've got him. I've got him." Lori said hugging Carl. Sophia ran to Carol. "Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?"

"No, I'm okay." Carl said. Tyler ran towards Kira but then stopped and started looking around.

"Carl, Sophia, Eliza…" he muttered as he made sure each kid was accounted for.

…

The group came upon a Walker that was busy eating the carcass of a deer that had a bunch of Daryl's crossbow bolts in it. Andrea and Amy came up and noticed how disgusting it was. When the Walker saw them, it started to turn on them. Rick, Shane, Glenn, Jim, and Morales started to beat on it with their objects. Dale finished it off by chopping its head off with an axe. He stared down at it as everyone stepped away.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." Dale said.

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim said. They heard branches snapping and footsteps. Shane pointed his gun towards the noise. Daryl came out of the forest and gave Shane a look. Shane lowered his gun and Daryl walked out seeming very upset that the walker had been eating the deer.

"Oh, Jesus." Dale said.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this…" He started kicking the walker body with each word. "filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale said. Daryl went over to him.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on golden pond"?" he sighed. "I've been tracking this deer for miles." he said taking out the bolts. "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" he asked pointing around the neck.

"I would not risk that." Shane said. Daryl sighed.

"That's a damn shame. I got us some squirrel… about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." Daryl said. Suddenly the head of the Walker started to move its teeth.

"Oh god." Amy said and she and Andrea walked away.

"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl shot it through the eye with one of his arrows. "It's gotta be the brain." He took out the arrow. "Don't y'all know nothing?" He asked before walking past Kira and Tyler, he glanced at them before heading back to camp. Everyone followed.

…

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." Daryl called.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane said.

"About wha?" Daryl asked.

"About Merle. There was a… There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane said coming to stand in front of him. Daryl glanced around at everyone.

"He dead?"

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!"

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick said walking over.

"Who are you?" Daryl asked.

"Rick grimes."

"Rick grimes, you got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" Daryl shouted.

"Yeah." Rick said. Daryl threw the squirrels at Rick then went to attack him, but Shane shoved him off.

"Hey! Watch the knife!" T-Dog said when Daryl pulled his knife out, but Shane was able to come up behind him and put him in a chokehold.

"Okay. Okay." Shane said.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl said.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane said.

"Choke hold's illegal." Daryl said breathing heavily.

"You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day." Shane said as he had Daryl on the ground.

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked. "Do you think we can manage that?" Rick repeated.

"Hmm?" Shane hummed.

"Mmm. Yeah." Daryl said. Shane let him go.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick said.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." T-Dog said.

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asked as he looked over to him.

"I dropped it in a drain." T-dog said. Daryl took a second before he got up.

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." Daryl said with his head back down.

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof… So the geeks couldn't get at him… With a padlock." T-Dog said.

"It's gotta count for something." Rick said. Daryl let out a breath and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him." Daryl said, his voice close to breaking.

"He'll show you." Lori said. "Isn't that right?"

"I'm going back." Rick said. Lori walked into the RV. Daryl picked up his crossbow and started to walk off. Kira ran after him.

"You saved my brother so let me help save yours." she said. He shook his head still walking.

"Stay here, I'd just have to watch yer ass." he said.

"Then give me a gun."

"You don' even know how ta shoot a gun."

"How would you kno-?"

"The noise would attract walkers anyway."

"Then give me an axe, a bat, something!" Kira said. Daryl stopped and turned to her.

" _No._ Yer _not_ comin'. That's final. You wanna help, go huntin' and get some more food. You see a walker, run." Kira huffed and walked away. He watched her for a moment before continuing on his way.

"I'm guessing that means I can't come either then?" Tyler asked as Daryl passed him.

"Damn right."

 **Once again thank you to everyone who reads this. I hope people who already read the older version like this one better. I'm definitely going to make sure there aren't as many mistakes in this one. (I was going through the old one and the number of mistakes I missed makes me cringe.)**

 **See ya next Saturday!**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead its plot or characters I do however own my OCs and any changes I make._**

 ** _I Apologize this was supposed to come out yesterday. I will post another chapter in a few hours. Again sorry about that. Hey if anyone likes Until Dawn (The new PS4 interactive horror) and you've finished the game/finished watching someone play the game you should check out my new fic "Make a Move"_**

* * *

Later, Rick put his police uniform back on. He walked past Shane.

"So that's it, huh? You're just gunna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?" Shane asked.

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody… not you Shane…" Rick said. "Lori least of all."

"Then tell her that." Shane said.

"She knows." Rick said before walking away. Shane followed after him.

"Well, look, I… I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just… Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl said.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane said to Daryl. "Merle Dixon…The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Shane said to Rick.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst… me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asked. Rick turned to Glenn who made a face.

"Oh, come on." Glenn said.

"You know the way. You've been there before in and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask… I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too."

"That's just great. Now you're gunna risk three men, huh?" Shane asked.

"Four." T-dog said. Daryl huffed as he cleaned his bolts.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Daryl said.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog asked.

"Why you?" Daryl asked.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." T-Dog said.

"That's four." Dale said.

"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was _in camp_. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick said.

"Right, the guns." Glenn said

"Wait. What guns?" Shane asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?"

"700 rounds, assorted."

"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gunna turn around and leave?" Lori said.

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl said.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." Lori said before standing. "Tell me. Make me understand."

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?" Lori asked.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?"Shane asked.

"Yeah." Rick said.

"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea asked.

"The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap… Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth… Not even the scanners in our cars." Shane said.

"I need that bag." Rick said. Lori looked away. Rick crouched in front of Carl. "Okay?" Rick asked. Carl nodded.

* * *

Kira walked over to Daryl who was in the back of the van waiting for the others. He looked over as she got up into the back.

"Yer _not_ comin, get out."

"I know I'm not going, chill out." Kira said. Daryl was pacing in the back. "I just wanted to…"

"Ta what?" Daryl asked turning to her. Kira held her hands behind her back.

"To tell you to be careful; I still have a debt to you." He shook his head.

"Ya don't owe me nothin'."

"You saved my brother's life. I never did properly thank you."

"Don't."

"Just be careful and come back alive, eh?" He glanced at her before looking away. Suddenly she was in front of him and he blinked. She leaned up on her toes and pecked his cheek. He backed up, his eyes slightly wide.

"Wha the-!"

"For luck." she said with a small smirk.

"Don' need luck." He said with a frown and started to rub his cheek.

"Aw you're rubbing it in." Kira said with a smile. He glared slightly and looked away before going over to the front and putting his foot on the horn three times. Glenn, in the driver's seat, leaned away.

"Come on, let's go!" Daryl shouted. He turned to Kira. "Get out." She rolled her eyes but smirked before getting out of the back.

"Darwel!" Daryl turned around with a glare but blinked in surprise when he saw Lilly trying to climb into the back of the van.

"Where do ya think yer goin?" Daryl asked her as she managed to roll up into the back.

"Are you goin ta get Merwel?" she asked as she stood and looked up at him.

"Yeah." Daryl said. Lilly motioned with her hands for Daryl to come down to her level so she could tell him something. Daryl sighed and crouched. "What?" Lilly cupped her hands like she was going to whisper something to him and he turned his head, leaning down a bit more. Lilly went on her toes and kissed his cheek before she started giggling. Daryl rolled his eyes. "You too, huh?" Lilly smiled up at him. Daryl shook his head with the smallest smile as he stood up. He jumped out of the back and picked her up. "Come on." he said as he put her down. "Get outta here." he said as he ruffled her hair before he nodded his head towards where Kira was talking with Andrea. Lilly grinned back up at him before running over to Kira who picked up the girl with a smile before she glanced over at Daryl. Daryl got back in the back of the van, as Rick got in the passenger's seat, and pulled the back door down before the group took off.

* * *

Kira was approached by Carol.

"The other women and I are going to do the laundry, if you want to help." she said. "Miranda can watch Lilly." she added motioning over to where Morales' wife was with her children and Sophia.

"Sure." Kira said with a nod. The group of woman, Carol, Jacqui, Kira, Andrea, and Amy, went down to the quarry. Ed sat on the back of the Cherokee's tailgate watching while Shane and Carl were trying to catch frogs nearby. Tyler say a few feet away on a rock.

"Hey Tyler." Shane said to the boy who was sitting nearby watching them. "Wanna give it a shot?" Tyler shook his head.

"Come on, Ty." Carl said with a big smile. Tyler frowned slightly.

"No thanks." he said. "Not a big fan of frogs."

"Your gunna love 'em soon." Shane said. Tyler didn't respond. Carl frowned. "Come on bud, more for us, huh?" Shane said with a smile making Carl smile too.

…

"I'm beginning to question the division of labor here." Jacqui said walking over with Andrea as they watched Shane and Carl pretty much just playing in the water. "Can someone explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?" Jacqui asked.

"The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?" Amy asked. Ed watched the women washing the laundry from his vehicle.

"It's just the way it is." Carol said. "I do miss my Maytag."

"I miss my Benz, my sat nav." Andrea said.

"I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey." Jacqui said.

"My computer… And texting." Amy said. Kira nodded in agreement.

"I miss my vibrator." Andrea said. The women started to laugh.

"Oh!" Jacqui said.

"Oh my God!" Amy giggled.

"Wow." Kira laughed.

"Me too." Carol said. The girls continued to laugh even louder. Ed noticed and frowned before walking over.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Just swapping war stories, Ed." Andrea said.

"Yeah." Amy said. Ed came up to them.

"Problem, Ed?" Andrea asked.

"Nothin' that concerns you. And you ought to focus on your work." He said to Carol. "This ain't no comedy club." The woman went back to washing the clothes.

…

Lori walked over to Carl and Shane.

"Hey Carl," She said. "What did I tell you about not leaving Dale's sight?"

"But Shane said we could catch frogs remember?" Carl asked.

"Doesn't matter what Shane said it matters what I said. Go on, back to camp." Carl sighed and got up. "I'll be right behind you."

"I'll go with him." Tyler said. Lori nodded to him and the two boys started walking back to camp. Lori started to follow but ended up staying back and arguing with Shane. A few minutes later she joined them on the walk back.

…

Andrea stood up.

"Ed, tell you what… you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here." she tossed a wet shirt at him and Ed threw it right back at her face. "Oh!"

"Ain't my job, missy." Ed said.

"Andrea, don't." Carol said.

"What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?" Andrea said.

"Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch. Tell you what… come on. Let's go." Ed said motioning Carol over. Carol got up.

"She doesn't have to go, Ed. You're not the boss of her." Kira said as she stood next to Andrea and pushed Carol behind her.

"And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me." Carol went to move but Kira stopped her.

"Carol." she said.

"Kira, please. It doesn't matter." Carol said.

"Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're the little girl getting all nice and _cozy_ with that Dixon guy, All right?" Kira's jaw dropped slightly. "Now you come on now or you gunna regret it later." Ed said to Carol.

"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've seen them." Jacqui said. Ed laughed. Nearby Shane noticed what was happening.

"Stay out of this. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on." Ed said.

"No no." Andrea and Kira said.

"Carol, you don't…" Amy said.

"Carol, you don't have…" Andrea said.

"You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" Ed said suddenly slapping Carol. "You think you can…" The girls started to protect Carol and they grabbed onto Ed. Ed was too big and none of them could prevent Ed from continuing to grab at Carol.

"Get off her!" Amy grabbed Carol and pulled her away.

"Come here! Come here!" Ed said. Andrea hit him with the wet shirt.

"Get off her! Get off her! Get off her!" Kira moved to block a hit to Carol and got hit on the side of the face. She stumbled and fell to the ground as Shane walked in and grabbed Ed.

"Get off me!" Ed said. Shane pulled him away and threw him to the ground. He went over and starting punching Ed in the face.

"It's okay. It's okay." Andrea said to Carol. Jacqui helped Kira up and looked at her face. Her left cheek was sore and would probably bruise. Shane pummeled Ed's face multiple times. Ed's face got bloody as Shane continued to punch him. The girls watched in horror as Shane mutilated Ed's face. Carol was sobbing. "Shane, stop! Just stop!" Andrea shouted.

"Stop it! Stop!" Carol sobbed. Shane grabbed Ed.

"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!" Shane shouted.

"Yes." Ed moaned.

"I'll beat you to death, Ed."

"Ed!" Carol sobbed.

"I'll beat you to death." Shane said to him before he hit him one more time and then kicked him in the stomach.

"Oh God! No. God!" Carol sobbed running over to him and kneeling over him. "Ed, I'm sorry. Oh my God. Ed, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ed. Ed, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Ed." The other girls didn't know how to react as Shane made his way over. He took Kira's hand and made his way back to camp. He was breathing heavy.

"You okay?" he asked as he stopped outside his tent.

"I'm fine." Kira said. He took her chin in his hand and looked at where Ed hit her. "Shane, really I'm fine." He nodded and let her chin go after a moment. "I'm gunna go hunting in a bit…" she said.

"Alright. Be careful."

"Would you keep an eye on Tyler?" Kira asked. Shane nodded. "He hasn't had a chance to be a kid in a while. I'm glad that he can be around kids his own age."


	4. Chapter 4

**_Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead its plot or characters I do however own my OCs and any changes I make._**

* * *

Kira had left into the woods with the bow and arrows Tyler made her. She managed to shoot down three small birds and a few squirrels. She sighed and headed back to camp. Dale stood on top of the RV to keep watch for walkers. Amy and Andrea came back to the camp with tons of fish for the camp.

"Oh, baby. Will you look at that? Hey, check it out." Andrea handed Morales some fish. "Ladies… Because of you my children will eat tonight. Thank you." Morales said.

"Thank Dale. It's his canoe and gear." Andrea said.

"Mom, look. Look at all the fish." Carl said. Kira frowned and walked over to the fire pit and dropped small bag of birds and squirrels before walking away. Morales held the fish out to Lori.

"Thank you." Lori said leaning away.

"Whoa." Carl said.

"Yeah, whoa. Where did you two learn to do that?" Lori asked.

"Our dad." Amy said.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Carl asked.

"Sure. I'll teach you all about nail knots and stuff. If that's okay." Amy asked Lori.

"You won't catch me arguing." Lori said.

"We can teach you too, Ty." Amy said with a smile to the boy.

"I already know how to do all that." Tyler said with a blank face.

"Then maybe you should come with us next time." Andrea suggested.

"No thanks." Tyler muttered before walking over to his sister. "You get anything?" he asked her.

"Yeah, a bunch of stupid birds and squirrels." Kira said with a shrug.

"So the bow works." Tyler said with a smile. Kira smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, good work bro." she said putting a hand on his shoulder. Dale walked up to the group.

"Hey, Dale. When's the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace." Andrea said.

"I, uh, I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem." Dale said. Shane came up to the group. Dale pointed over to Jim who was digging holes.

…

The whole camp came out to see Jim but he ignored them and kept digging.

"Hey, Jim. Jim, why don't you hold up, all right? Just give me a second here, please." Shane said.

"What do you want?" Jim asked.

"We're all just a little concerned, that's all." Shane said.

"Dale says you've been out here for hours." Morales said.

"So?"Jim asked.

"So why are you digging? Are you heading to China, Jim?" Shane asked.

"What does it matter? I'm not hurting anyone."

"Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's a hundred degrees today. You can't keep this up." Shane said.

"Sure I can. Watch me."

"Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people. You're scaring my son and Carol's daughter and Lilly." Lori said. Lilly hugged Kira's legs as Kira put a hand on her head.

"They got nothing to be scared of. I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself. Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?" Jim asked.

"We think that you need to take a break, okay? Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe. I'll tell you what… maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?" Shane said.

"Or what?"

"There is no or what. I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you."

"And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you? Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it. See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you."

"That was different, Jim."

"You weren't there. Ed was out of control. He was hurting his wife." Amy said.

"That is _their_ marriage. That is not his. He is not judge and jury." Jim said. "Who voted you king boss, huh?"

"He also hit Kira." Amy said. "She wasn't any part of his marriage." Jim glared at Amy and opened his mouth to respond when Shane cut him off.

"Jim, I'm not here to argue with you, all right? Just give me the shovel, okay?"

"No, no, no."

"Just give me the… Jim!" Jim shoved Shane away and then threatened to hit him with it. Shane tackled Jim to the ground. "Okay, shh shh."

"You got no right!"

"Stop. Shh."

"You got no right!"

"Jim, just stop it. Hey hey hey hey."

"Don't!"

"Jim. Jim, nobody's gonna hurt you. You hear me? Shh. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you, okay?"

"That's a lie. That's the biggest lie there is." Jim said as Shane cuffed him. "I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it 100 times. It didn't matter. They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands. You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family."

* * *

Jim was tied to a tree to protect him from hurting anyone or himself. Nearby Lori and Carol sat with Carl and Sophia, teaching them while Lilly sat with them colouring.

"Tyler." Lori said as he walked by. He stopped walking and looked at her.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Why don't you come join us?" Lori suggested with a small smile. Tyler took a few steps forward to see what they were doing and frowned.

"What's the point?" he asked.

"It's not like we can go to school anymore." Sophia said as she glanced back at him.

"It's not like any of that will help you." Tyler said.

"We'd like to keep their education going regardless." Lori said.

"That's dumb." Tyler said. "It's not gunna do them any good." he said before walking away. Kira walked over with a frown on her face.

"Tyler…" He kept walking. "I… I'm sorry about him." she said to Lori. "He just had to grown up too fast.. ya know?" Lori nodded. Shane went over to Jim with a bucket of water and gave him a drink before pouring some on his head.

"Cooling you down, huh?" Shane asked.

"Yeah. How long you gonna keep me like this?" Jim asked.

"Well, yeah. Until I don't think that you're a danger to yourself or others." Shane said.

"Sorry if I scared your boy and the girls." Jim said to Lori.

"You had sunstroke." Lori said. "Nobody's blaming you."

"You're not scared now, are you?" Jim asked the kids.

"No sir." Sophia said. Jim nodded slightly.

"Your mama's right. Sun just cooked my head is all." Jim said.

"Jim, do you know why you were digging? Can you say?" Dale asked.

"I had a reason." Jim said. "Don't remember. Something I dreamt last night. Your dad was in it. You were too. You were worried about him. Can't remember the rest. You worried about your dad?" He asked Carl.

"They're not back yet." Carl said.

"We don't need to talk about that." Lori said.

"Your dad's a police officer, son. He helps people. Probably just came across some folks needing help, that's all. That man, he's tough as nails. I don't know him well but… I could see it in him. Am I right?" Jim looked up at Shane.

"Oh yeah." Shane said.

"There ain't nothing gonna stop him from getting back here to you and your mom, I promise you that." Jim said.

"Alright. Who wants to help me clean some fish, huh?" Shane asked.

"Sweet." Carl said. "Come on, Sophia."

"Come on Lilly." Sophia said taking the little girl's hand. The three ran after Shane.

"Stay with Carol, all right?" Lori said. Carol got up and followed the kids. Lori approached Jim.

"You keep your boy close. You don't ever let him out of your sight." Jim said. Lori nodded in agreement and went to join them.

…

"I, uh, built up the rocks all around. See? So the flames can be a little higher and have 'em be hidden." Morales said. Shane and Carl walked up to Jim.

"Hey, Jim. How you feeling, man?" Shane asked.

"I'm better. More myself now." Jim said.

"I hope you understand the need for this… this timeout. I've got others I've got to think about. I just want to make sure there's no… there's no hard feelings." Shane said.

"There's not. I do understand." Jim said.

"Okay. Why don't you come join in with the rest of us? Big ol' fish fry." Shane said.

"I'd like that very much." Jim said.

"Okay." Shane said.

* * *

The group enjoyed a fish dinner; everyone was having a good time.

"Pass the fish, please." Carl asked.

"Here you go." Lori said passing him a plate.

"Man oh man, that's good. I miss this." Shane said. Lilly sat on Kira's lap as Kira fed her. Lilly made a face but Kira got her to eat more.

"I've got to ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy." Morales said to Dale.

"What?"

"That watch."

"What's wrong with my watch?" Dale asked.

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass." Morales said.

"I've wondered this myself." Jacqui said.

"I'm missing the point." Dale said.

"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a good long while." Jacqui said.

"But there's you every day winding that stupid watch." Morales said.

"Time " Dale said. "it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea?" Andrea let out a chuckle and took a drink. "Back me up here. I like… I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, "I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it."

"What?" Tyler asked with a face.

"You are so weird." Amy said. Everyone laughed.

"It's not me. It's Faulkner. William Faulkner. Maybe my bad paraphrasing." Dale said. Amy got up from the campfire.

"Where are you going?" Andrea asked.

"I have to pee. Jeez, you try to be discreet around here…" Amy said before walking to the RV. Everyone laughed again.

"Come on Sweetie just a few more bites." Kira said holding up a forkful of fish. Lilly shook her head.

"Mm-mm." she whined trying to lean away.

"She's had enough?" Andrea asked with a chuckle.

"I guess so." Kira said with a sigh. "More for me." Kira said eating the bite. "Mmm. Delicious." Lilly frowned and tugged on Kira's sleeve. "Oh now you want more?" Lilly smiled which caused the group to laugh some more.

…

Suddenly Andrea heard Amy screaming and turned to see Amy getting bitten by a Walker. Andrea started screaming and everyone scattered.

"Mom!" Carl screamed.

"Carl!" Lori grabbed him.

"Lori, get him down!" Shane shouted.

"Tyler!" Kira shouted as she stood, holding Lilly to her. Lilly started to cry loudly as she held onto Kira's neck. Shane grabbed his shotgun and shot several Walkers with it. Kira gulped as she looked around to see where the Walkers were. Jim picked up a baseball bat and crushed a Walker's skull with it. Everyone took cover and Dale picked up his rifle. Some people were attacked and bitten by Walkers. Morales grabbed a baseball bat and killed one of the Walkers with it. Kira grabbed Tyler's arm and moved with Lori, Carl, Carol and Sophia.

"I'm right here." Lori said putting her hand on Shane's shoulder. "Shane, what do we do? Shane?"

"Follow me!" Morales yelled. The Walker that attacked Amy took a bite out of her neck. Andrea ran to Amy screaming. Jim killed the Walker that attacked Amy and Andrea crawled over to her sister.

"No! No! Oh God! Oh my God!" Andrea sobbed. She tried to put pressure on the neck wound. "Oh God, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do." The fight continued and Shane kept Lori and Carl close.

"Come on. Come on, stay close." Shane said as he and the others moved towards the RV.

"Carol!" Lori shouted.

"Stay close!" Shane yelled. Morales continued to kill two more Walkers that were trying to get at his family. "Come on, y'all! Work your way up here!" Shane shouted.

"Right in front of you. Shane!" Lori shouted. Shane shot another Walker.

"Get to the RV! Go!" Morales shouted. Morales was able to kill three more and fled for the RV.

"Shane! Shane!" Lori shouted.

"Stay with me. Stay behind me. Morales, work up here!" Shane said.

"Get behind me! Let's go! Stay with me." Lori said.

"Come on, make your way to the Winnebago!" Shane shouted. Kira suddenly tripped and hit the ground on her side hard letting out a yelp.

"Kira!" Tyler shouted but Lori was pulling him along with Carl. Kira looked up and gasped as a Walker was about to dive for her. She quickly covered Lilly when suddenly a crossbow bolt was in the walkers head. Kira looked back to see Rick, T-Dog, Daryl, and Glenn had arrived in time to kill more of the Walkers to save the group. Rick shot five of the Walkers, Glenn shot two, and T-Dog shot one and killed another with the butt of his rifle. Daryl killed four, two with the butt of his rifle. He made his way over to Kira, as she picked up Lilly, and grabbed her arm by her elbow.

"Come on!" He said pulled them over to the RV before pushing Kira behind him and facing the other way looking for more walkers.

"Baby! Carl! Baby!" Rick called

"Dad!" Carl yelled

"Carl!" When the Walkers were dead, Carl ran to Rick and gave him a hug. Kira surprise Daryl by hugging him with the arm that wasn't holding up Lilly. Daryl tensed but put an arm around her awkwardly. Lilly continued to cry. Kira shushed her quietly as she held her close. Jim survived the fight and came back to rejoin everyone. Andrea continued to stay by Amy's side.

"Amy. I don't know what to do, Amy. Oh, Amy. Oh no no." Amy touched Andrea's cheek briefly before she closed her eyes. Andrea began to sob. Carl also began to cry when he saw that Amy was dead. "Amy! Amy! Amy!" Andrea repeated. As everyone else got rounded back up, Jim turned away to see Amy.

"I remember my dream now, why I dug the holes." Jim said. They looked at the camp with several dead Walkers on the ground. Daryl looked down at Kira as she quieted Lilly's crying.

"Ya alright?" he asked quietly. She looked up and he was surprised to see her crying. He put his arm back around her in an attempt to comfort her. As he looked away he saw Tyler staring at Andrea and Amy.

* * *

 **Next two chapters next week.**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead its plot or characters I do however own my OCs and any changes I make._**

* * *

Andrea kept vigil over the body of her dead sister. Lori walked up to her.

"Andrea." she said. "I'm so sorry. She's gone. You got to let us take her. We all cared about her and I promise we'll be as gentle as we can." Andrea didn't respond. Lori stood and walked away. The survivors of the attack started to clean up, burning the walker bodies and burying the dead from the group. Daryl swung at the dead walkers' heads with a pickaxe as Glenn and T-Dog threw bodies in a fire. Kira sat nearby with Lilly on her lap and watched. Occasionally Daryl would look over at her. She didn't notice until around the fifth time. She gave him a small brief smile and he went back to work.

"She still won't move?" Rick asked walking over to Shane, Lori, Carol, Kira and Dale.

"She won't even talk to us." Lori said. "She's been there all night. What do we do?"

"Can't just leave Amy like that. We need to deal with it same as the others." Shane said.

"I'll tell her how it is." Rick tried to approach Andrea but she pulled a gun on him. "Andrea."

"I know how the safety works." she said.

"All right. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Rick said backing off.

"Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb." Daryl said.

"What do you suggest?" Rick asked.

"Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." Daryl said.

"Daryl it's her _sister_." Kira said. He looked at her and went to respond.

"For God's sakes, let her be." Lori said agreeing with Kira before sitting down. Daryl scoffed and walked away. Kira stood up, putting Lilly down.

"Wake up, Jimbo. We've got some work to do." Daryl said walking by Jim going over to Morales who was trying to move a body.

"Thanks. Thanks." Morales said as Daryl started to help him. The two started to drag the body of a dead camper toward the fire.

"What are you guys doing?" Glenn said. "This is for geeks. Our people go over there." He said pointing.

"What's the difference? They're all infected." Daryl said.

"Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them! We bury them." Glenn sounded and looked like he was going to cry. "Understand? Our people go in that row over there." He pointed again. Daryl and Morales dragged the body away.

"You reap what you sow." Daryl said.

"You know what? Shut up, man." Morales said.

"Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this coming!" Daryl said before walking away. Kira bit her lip.

"Stay with Carol, Sweetie." She told Lilly before she ran after Daryl.

"Go away girl!" he snapped when he looked back to see her following him.

"Just wait." she said.

"No, go away." He said. She followed him a few more moments before he turned around sharply. "Why ya following me?!" He snapped. Kira flinched slightly. She swallowed. Daryl huffed and started to walk away again. She followed him and grabbed his arm

"I know how you feel." He turned around and yanked his arm from her grasp.

"What do _you_ know?!"

"Tyler and I lost our older brother too! Only we had _proof_ our brother was gone forever! He tried to eat us! Glenn told me all you found was a hand.. but you didn't find a body… he's still alive. He's out there. Don't give up so easily." She swallowed as he looked at her. He let out a breath and clenched his teeth.

"C'mere." He said before walking towards his tent. Kira raised an eyebrow but followed him. "Wait here." He said before going in. A moment later he came out with a bow and three arrows. "Here. I found them in the city. I could only find three arrows." He said holding them out to her. "That bow you got looks like it's gunna snap."

"..T-thanks Dare." Kira said taking them.

"Dare?" Daryl asked as he made a face.

"Oh sorry, sorry I won't call you that if you don't like it." Kira said.

"Call me whatever." he shrugged. Kira smiled and when he saw, he hesitated before saying. "Not whatever." She smiled more and went on her toes quickly to kiss his cheek. He made a face before he started rubbing his cheek.

"You're rubbing it in." she said in sing song before giggling.

"Ya got a cute giggle." he said without thinking and smirked slightly when Kira's face went pink and she looked away. Suddenly Jacqui spoke loudly, getting their attention.

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!" Everyone got up and came over to him. Daryl and Kira made their way over too, Daryl grabbing the pickaxe. Kira immediately went over to Lilly.

"Show it to us." Daryl said. "Show it to us."

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim said.

"Easy, Jim." Shane said.

"Grab him." Daryl said. "Grab him!" Jim took the shovel on the ground.

"Jim, put it down. Put it down." Shane said. T-Dog caught Jim back and held him.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." Daryl lifted Jim's shirt, revealing a deep wound. Both he and T-Dog moved away from Jim. Daryl subconsciously moved in front of Kira. "I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim repeated.

* * *

Later, the guys, Lori, Kira and Jacqui were talking about Jim's case.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." Daryl said.

"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while ya did it." Daryl said.

"I hate to say it…" Dale said. "I never thought I would… but maybe Daryl's right."

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick said.

"I'm not suggesting…" Dale said.

"He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?" Rick said.

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Daryl said.

"What if we can get him help? I heard the C.D.C. was working on a cure." Rick said.

"I heard that too." Shane said. "Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."

"What if the C.D.C. is still up and running?" Rick said.

"Man, that is a stretch right there." Shane said.

"Why?" Rick asked. "If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the C.D.C. at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection…"

"Okay, Rick," Shane said. "you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."

"That's 100 miles in the opposite direction." Lori said.

"That is right." Shane said. "But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."

"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The C.D.C. is our best choice and Jim's only chance." Rick said. Daryl looked back at Jim who was sitting by the RV.

"You go looking for aspirin," Daryl said. "do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" Daryl headed toward Jim with his pickaxe about to take a swing.

"Hey hey hey!" Shane said as Rick pointed his gun at Daryl's head.

"We don't kill the living." Rick said.

"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl said.

"We may disagree on some things, not on this. You put it down. Go on." Shane said.

"Daryl…" Kira said. He looked over at her to see her shielding Lilly's view. Daryl let out a breath before he slammed the pickaxe down.

"Don't follow me this time." Daryl said to Kira before walking away. She watched him go. Rick went over to Jim.

"Come with me." Rick said to him.

"Where are you taking me?" Jim asked as Rick helped him up.

"Somewhere safe." Rick took Jim with him. Kira watched as Daryl walked back over. He avoided looking at her. He grabbed the pickaxe and walked back over to where the walkers were. Daryl continued to swing the pickaxe into dead walkers' skulls. When he got to Ed, Carol stopped him.

"I'll do it. He's my husband." She swung the pickaxe down on Ed's skull repeatedly, crying, and all of her anger against her abusive husband was let loose. Kira slowly walked over to Daryl with Lilly on her hip. He looked over to her.

"Yer like a damn leech." He said looking away. She didn't say anything but frowned and then walked away. Daryl turned and watched her go.

…

Kira walked with a sigh. She looked over to the RV and saw Amy was awake. She stopped, seeing Amy moaning and pawing at the air. Amy grabbed Andrea's hair and sat up. Andrea kept her back by holding her face. The others noticed and watched the two sisters. Rick and Shane started to walk over their hands on their guns. Kira pushed Lilly's head to her chest, covering her ears, as she headed to the RV. A moment after she closed the door the gunshot sounded.

"Was that Amy?" Jim asked. Kira looked over and saw him sitting towards the back. She nodded.

"H-How are you feelin?" Kira asked. Jim hesitated. "Want me to get you some water?" Jim shook his head.

"Best not to waste it." Jim said. "You'll need it more than I will…"

* * *

Everyone headed up to where Shane and Rick were digging graves. Daryl drove his truck backwards up, the bodies in the back. He got out and walked over to the two.

"I still think it's a mistake not burning these bodies. It's what we said we'd do, right? Burn 'em all, wasn't that the idea?" Daryl said.

"At first." Shane said.

"The Chinaman gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do, we just follow him along? These people need to know who the hell's in charge here, what the rules are." Daryl said.

"There are no rules." Rick said.

"Well, that's a problem." Lori said. "We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do."

…

The survivors staged a funeral. Andrea and Dale were carrying Amy's body and putting it into a digging hole. Andrea was crying.

"I can do it. I can do it. I can do it!" she sobbed. Dale helped her out and she wiped her eyes. Everyone headed back to the camp.

* * *

 **Next one out tomorrow**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead its plot or characters I do however own my OCs and any changes I make_**

 ** _I don't know why some parts of the story are italicized but if long sentences are just ignore them._**

* * *

The group was going to head to the CDC. Everyone was gathered by the vehicles.

"Everybody listen up." Shane said. "Those of you with C.B.s, we're gunna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gunna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

"We're, uh… We're… we're not going." Morales said.

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people." Miranda said.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane said.

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for _my_ family." Morales said.

"You sure?" Rick asked.

"We talked about it. We're sure." Morales said.

"All right. Shane." Rick said.

"Yeah, all right." Shane said.

"357?" Rick asked as he opened the gun bag.

"Yeah." Rick handed Morales a gun and Shane handed him ammo.

"The box is half full." Shane said.

"Thank you all… For everything." Miranda said.

"Come here." Lori and Miranda hugged.

"Good luck, man." Shane said.

"Appreciate it." Morales said. Lori kissed Miranda's head before giving both her kids a hug and kiss.

"Yeah." Eliza hugged Sophia.

"Bye." she said.

"Thank you." Miranda and Jacqui hugged. Eliza gave her doll to Sophia, who was crying.

"Bye."

"Channel 40 if you change your minds. All right?" Rick said.

"Yeah." Carol took her daughter in her arms.

"I know." Morales, his wife Miranda and children went away.

"What makes you think our odds are any better? Come on. Let's go. Let's move out." Shane said. Kira bit her lip and walked up to Daryl. She swallowed and tapped his shoulder. He turned around and looked down at her and Lilly who was of course on her hip. She looked at the ground.

"Can... Can we ride with you?" she asked. "I don't want her in there with..." She looked over at the RV then up at him. He hesitated but nodded.

"Come on." He said and the three got in his truck.

* * *

Dale was driving his RV while Glenn looked at a map beside him. In the back Jacqui took care of Jim, who was in pain, and Carol sat nearby. Rick was driving a car with Lori by his side, Carl and Sophia on the backseat with Tyler between them, followed by Shane's jeep, T-Dog's car with Andrea, and Kira, Lilly and Daryl in his truck with a motorcycle in the back.

…

En route to the CDC, the RV's radiator hose burst.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose. I said I needed the one from the cube van." Dale said.

"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick asked.

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape." Dale said.

"I see something up ahead. A gas station if we're lucky." Shane said looking through his binoculars. Jacqui got out of the RV.

"Y'all, Jim… It's bad. I don't think he can take anymore." she said before she went back to Jim.

"Hey, Rick, you want to hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back." Shane said.

"Yeah, I'll come along too and I'll back you up." T-Dog said.

"Y'all keep your eyes open now. We'll be right back." Shane said. While Shane and T-Dog drove ahead to find a replacement, Rick checked on Jim, who was in agony.

…

Rick came out and told everyone, when Shane and T-Dog came back, that Jim wanted to be left there.

"It's what he says he wants."

"And he's lucid?" Carol asked.

"He seems to be. I would say yes." Rick said.

"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood," Dale said. "I would never go along with callously killing a man but I was just gunna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

"We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that." Shane said.

"It's not your call, either one of you." Lori said.

…

Rick and Shane carried Jim to a nearby tree.

"Yeah. That's it." Rick said. Jim groaned.

"Hey, another damn tree." Jim chuckled.

"Hey, Jim… I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this." Shane said.

"No. It's good. The breeze feels nice." Jim said.

"Okay. All right." Shane said before stepping back.

"Just close your eyes, sweetie. Don't fight." Jacqui said. She kissed him on the cheek. Rick took a gun and showed him.

"Jim, do you want this?" Rick asked.

"No. You'll need it. I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim said. Rick walked away and Dale walked up.

"Oh. Hey. Thanks for, uh, for fighting for us." Dale said.

"Okay." Jim said with a nod. The group departed after making goodbye signs to Jim. Daryl looked at Jim who tried to force a smile before he walked to his truck. He nodded to Kira who had been heading to the RV. She nodded and joined him back in the truck.

…

They'd been driving for about an hour when Daryl looked over.

"How's she doin?" he asked. Kira looked at him before looking down at the sleeping girl.

"I don't know." she said quietly. Kira stroked Lilly's head softly. "I don't think she fully understands everything that's happening. I wouldn't know how to explain it all if she finally asked. For the first few weeks she would cry for her parents nonstop. I didn't know what to do…" Daryl glanced over at her to see her tearing up.

"You seem pretty good with 'er. You had any kids of yer own?" Daryl asked before immediately making a 'damn-it-why-did-I-ask-that?' face.

"No. I just used to take care of Tyler. We're 15 years apart." Kira said. Daryl blinked.

"Yer 26?" he asked after a moment, looking over at her. Kira rolled her eyes.

"Yes." she said.

"Don' look it." Daryl added quickly yet quietly.

"Thanks…" Kira said. "Mom had me when she was 17…" she explained. "So when I came home from school I had to watch Tyler while she was at work."

"What about yer pop?"

"Well… _my_ father left the day mom told him she was pregnant. _Tyler's_ father was in the military until Tyler was around nine."

"So when you said yer daddy taught you-"

"I was talking about Tyler's biological father, yes. Mom met him when I was around four or five so he became my dad, raised me until he joined the military. Tyler was a surprise to him. I can still remember his reaction to the sonogram we sent him. We were so lucky that he got it during a phone call with mom." Kira said with a chuckle. Daryl glanced over and saw her smiling.

"You ever think about kids?" he asked.

"I used to." Kira said before looking down at Lilly.

"Well… did ya have a boyfriend or somethin, before the world went ta shit?" Daryl asked as he kept his eyes on the road.

"I did not. I haven't had a boyfriend since junior year of high school." Kira said. "Why?" Daryl glanced over and saw her smirking at him.

"No reason." he said.

"Sure, Dixon." she chuckled. He glanced at her again but she was looking down at Lilly.

* * *

The caravan arrived outside the compound. Surrounding the building were a lot of corpses, as well as swarms of flies. The group approached the CDC, where hundreds of bodies lay dead on the ground. The group quietly approached the building.

"All right, everybody. Keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go. Okay, keep moving. Stay together." Shane said.

"It smews gwoss." Lilly whined as she covered her noise.

"I know, Sweetie." Kira said as she kept Lilly's face pressed to her shoulder so she couldn't see the bodies.

"Keep moving. Come on." Rick said.

"Shh." People couldn't help but cough.

"Carol." Lori said.

"Shh."

"Oh, God." Glenn said. They reached the building which was locked and shuttered.

"Keep it together. Come on." Shane said

"We're almost there, baby. Almost there." Lori said

"Nothing?" Shane asked. He pushed against it before he pounded on door.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog said.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asked.

"Walkers!" Daryl shouted. He moved Kira and Lilly behind him immediately.

"Baby, come on." Lori said. Daryl shot the walker in the head.

"You led us into a graveyard!" he shouted.

"He made a call." Shane said.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl said.

"Just shut up. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane said pointing at Daryl. He turned to Rick. "Rick, this is a dead end." Shane said.

"Where are we gunna go?" Jacqui asked.

"Do you hear me? No blame." Shane said.

"She's right." Lori said. "We can't be here, this close to the city after dark."

"Fort Benning, Rick… Still an option." Shane said.

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles." Andrea said.

"125. I checked the map." Glenn said.

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now." Lori said. The kids started crying.

"We'll think of something." Rick said.

"Come on, let's go. Let's get out of here. Let's go. Please." Shane said. Rick caught sight of the security camera's movement. Daryl took Kira's arm and everyone started to head back.

"All right, everybody back to the cars. Let's go. Move." Shane said.

"The camera… it moved." Rick said. Everyone stopped.

"You imagined it." Dale said.

"It moved. It moved." Rick said.

"Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on." Shane said. "Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick." Rick slammed on the shutters.

"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori shouted.

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me." Rick shouted. Shane tried to drag him away, with the help of Lori.

"Everybody get back to the cars now!" Shane shouted.

"Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left." Rick pleaded.

"Rick. There's nobody here." Lori said.

"We have nowhere else to go." Rick continued, pounding on the door. "Keep your eyes open. If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please!"

"Come on, buddy, let's go. Let's go." Shane said pulling Rick back.

"Please help us. You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" The group was just about to leave when the door to the CDC opened, drowning the survivors in light. The lights turned off and everyone started to go inside.

"Daryl, you cover the back." Shane said. Daryl pushed Kira towards the door before raising his crossbow.

"Hello?" Rick called as he and the others walked in. "Hello?"

"Watch those doors. Watch for walkers."

 _"_ _Hello?"_ Suddenly someone cocked a gun. _Every_ one looked over to see a man holding a shotgun.

"Anybody infected?" He called out.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Rick said.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man asked.

"A chance." Rick said.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man said walking over.

"I know." Rick said. The man looked around at everyone.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that." The man lowered the gun.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." The men ran outside and grabbed everyone's things before running back inside. The man swiped a card and spoke into the reader. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." The shutters went down and everyone got into the elevator.

"Rick Grimes." Rick said.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner." The man said.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked from the back corner of the elevator.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. _But you look harmless enough._ Except you." Jenner said to Carl. " _I'll have to keep my eye on you." He chuckled._

…

"Are we underground?" Carol asked as everyone walked down a hallway.

 _"_ _You claustrophobic?" Jenner asked._

"A little." she said.

"Try not to think about it." They entered a large room. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." The room they walked into suddenly lit up. "Welcome to zone 5."

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked. "The other doctors, the staff?"

"I'm it." Jenner said. " _It's just me here."_

"What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori asked. "Vi? _"_

 _"_ _Vi, say hello to our guests._ Tell them... Welcome." Jenner said. Suddenly a computer spoke.

 _"_ _Hello, guests. Welcome."_

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Jenner said.

* * *

"It's just a little pinch, baby, it'll be over before you know it." Kira said to Lilly who had started squirming in her arms the moment she saw the needle. "You gotta be a big girl right now, okay? I did it and I'm fine." Lilly continued to squirm as her eyes started tearing up. Kira sighed and looked at Jenner. "Is there any way you could just do a finger prick?" Jenner nodded. Lilly started to cry as Kira sat down and tried to gently grab her hand. "Sweetie, please?" she asked softly. Sophia walked over with her doll.

"Lilly. Do you want to hold this?" Sophia asked. Lilly sniffled and reached out for the doll. Sophia smiled slightly and let her take it. Lilly held it with one arm while Kira gently held out her hand for Jenner. Lilly flinched and started to cry but it was muffled into Kira's shirt.

"Thank you, Sophia." Kira said to the girl. Sophia nodded with a smile. Kira got up and walked over to the others while Andrea took her place in the chair. Jenner took Andrea's blood as Kira sat down next to Tyler who rubbed Lilly's back.

"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Andrea said.

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough." Jenner said. The s _yringe clicked. "All done." She stood up and got a little dizzy._

" _Ooh." Jacqui caught her._

"Y _ou okay?" Jenner asked._

"Mmm."

"She hasn't eaten in days. _None of us have." Jacqui said._

* * *

Everyone was sitting at the table laughing. Kira sat next to T-dog and Tyler with Lilly on her lap, in front of Daryl who was leaning on something drinking from a bottle.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale said as he poured a glass. "And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori said.

"What's it gunna hurt? Come on." Rick said. "Come on." Dale laughed. "What?" Everyone started laughing again. Dale poured a small glass for Carl. Rick chuckled.

"There you are, young lad." He took a sip and made a face.

" _Eww."_ Everyone started laughing.

"That's my boy. That's my boy." Lori said.

"Yuck." Carl shook his head.

"Good boy."

"That tastes nasty." Carl said. The laughter continued.

"It can't taste that bad." Tyler said as he rolled his eyes. Carl picked up the glass and held it out to him.

"Then you try."

"Carl." Lori said shaking her head.

"Go ahead, Ty." Kira said. Tyler smirked and took the glass from Carl before drinking what was left. He immediately made a face as he swallowed.

"Oh gross! How do you guys drink this stuff?" Tyler coughed. Everyone laughed again.

"Well, you two just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane said.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl said walking over to the other side of Kira.

"What?" Glenn looked up.

"Keep drinking, little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." The men laughed. Kira held out her empty glass to Daryl.

"Ya wanna share some'a that."

"This ain't wine." he said. "Ya think you can handle it? Yer face's already turnin red." Kira chuckled and gave him a look. "Alright." Daryl said before pouring some of his drink in her glass. She took a big sip and he smirked with a chuckle. Rick clinked his glass and stood.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." Rick said.

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog said.

"Hear hear!"

"Here's to you, doc. Booyah!" Daryl said holding up his bottle. Kira tapped him on the arm and held up her glass.

"Come on, you've got that whole bottle to yourself." he smirked and he filled it again. Kira smiled before drinking.

 _"_ _Booyah_ _!"_

"Thank you." Rick said quietly.

"Booyah!" Glasses clinked.

"So when are you gunna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asked. "All the... the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane." Rick said. "Don't need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move... Supposed to find all the answers. Instead we..." He chuckled. "We found him. Found one man. Why?"

"Well, when things got bad," Jenner said. "a lot of people just left; went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They... opted out. _There was a rash of suicides_ _._ That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave." Andrea said. "Why?"

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good."

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man." Glenn said to Shane.

* * *

Later Jenner led everyone down a hallway.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies... If you shower, go easy on the hot water." He said before walking away.

"Hot water?" Glenn asked with a smile.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog said. Both laughed.

"To save hot water why don't some of us take showers together?" Kira suggested.

"Good idea." Rick said. "Me and Lori, Andrea could you and Jacqui?" The two nodded. "Alright, Carol and Sophia?" Carol nodded. Kira nudged Daryl's arm.

"Wanna shower with me?" She asked with a wink. Daryl's eyebrows went up and Kira started laughing. "I'm Kidding D." she said with a slight giggle.

"Sure you were." Andrea teased. Kira stuck her tongue out at her.

"I'll take one with you." Shane said with a slight smirk. Kira looked a little uncomfortable with a slight blush.

"I'll take it with you." Daryl said slightly glaring at Shane who frowned.

"Hey, Carol? Could you take Lilly?" Kira asked. Carol nodded with a smile and took the girl's hand.

"Someone drink a little too much?" Tyler asked with a smirk.

"You shush." Kira said to him. "You and Carl will probably have to share." She added before following Daryl. Carl and Tyler made faces before looking at each other.

"You can go first." Tyler said to Carl before walking away.

…

Once in bathroom Daryl turned on the water and turned to Kira.

"Ya can't look at me." He said. Kira chuckled.

"Aw you shy?"

"Just don' look."

"Alright Alright. I guess I'm getting in first then." Kira said. "Turn round." Daryl turned around and crossed his arms. Kira stripped down and got in. She got started on her hair as she heard his clothes hit the floor outside the shower. Kira started rinsing her hair as the curtain opened and Daryl got in. She finished rising her hair. "Hey, how are we gunna be able to switch spots if I can't look to move?" She asked.

"Like this." Kira jumped slightly when he put his hands on her hips and turned them, switching spots. She felt her face heating up and was grateful he couldn't see. Of course her face was already a red from all she drank. Daryl washed his hair while Kira washed her body. All they had was bar soap so Kira was struggling to wash her back. Suddenly Daryl took the soap and started to rub her back. She jumped again with a gasp. "Might as well help while I'm here." He said, his confidence coming from the bottle he'd drank. Kira blushed even more.

"Want me to wash _your_ back?" she asked turning her head slightly.

"No." He said sliding the bar all over her back and up to her shoulders. He used both hands and kinda gave her a slight short massage. She bit her lip.

"How about once we're done I give you a backrub?" She suggested.

"As long as my shirt's on, it's a deal." He said as he slid his hands down her sides.

"Don't get carried away there, Dare." Kira said with a smirk. Daryl chuckled.

"Kinda hard not to." he muttered.

"I heard that." she giggled. He cleared his throat.

"I'm getting out first." He said reaching past her to put the soap down. He got out and a moment later Kira heard the door open and close. She rinsed quickly before turning off the water and getting out. Kira grabbed the towel and dried her hair then her body. She looked around and remembered she didn't bring in any clothes. With the towel wrapped around her she left the bathroom. She risked walking down the hallway and entered the room she and Daryl had picked. Kira smirked slightly when she saw Daryl had just pulled on his pants, his shirt already on. He turned around and looked at her.

"I forgot my clothes." she said walking to her bag. He nodded. She took out her clothes then dropped her towel. Daryl let out a surprised grunt and cleared his throat. Kira chuckled. "You do realize we just took a shower together, you had to have looked then. Plus I'm putting clothes _on._ " she said pulling on her panties.

"I didn' look."

"Liar."

"I didn'."

"But you are now." She said pulling out a bra. Daryl coughed. "What's my tattoo?" She asked.

"A heart with cross bon-" He coughed again and she chuckled, her face turning pink. She had a small heart with cross bones on her left cheek. "Well, I didn' look at yer front."

"I didn't show you my front; otherwise you would've seen the other tattoos." She said trying to put her bra on.

"How many ya got?"

"Um, six." she let out a sigh. "Help me with this." she said walking over and sitting next to where he was on the couch. She sat with her back to him and held up her hair.

"There's tattoo number two." He said looking at the tattoo of the Japanese symbol on her neck. She chuckled. "What's it mean?" He asked as he hooked the bra and Kira stood up. "Thanks D, it's Japanese for love." She turned around and he looked her up and down before swallowing.

"There's three, four and five." He said. She smirked. She had a tattoo on her chest of a black butterfly, a blue rose on her left hip, and a random design tattoo that went around her waist – only some of it was visible from beneath her panties – and went down her right thigh. Daryl suddenly had the urge to reach out and trace it and lifted his hand but stopped himself.

"Yep, and six is here." She put her left foot up next to him and pointed to the tattoo of a vine with thorns around her ankle with little mini black roses. He swallowed looking up and down her leg. She put her foot down again. "Get on your stomach." Kira said.

"What?" He looked up at her.

"I have to give you a backrub, remember?" She smirked. Daryl got down on the couch. He swallowed again when she got up and straddled him. She started rubbing his back, slid her hands to his shoulders and started massaging them. He let out a grunt and she smirked. She slid her hands back down his back and he let out a slight groan, she chuckled. "That good huh?"

"mmhmm." He grunted again as she pushed a certain point. She giggled and kept rubbing for a few minutes then got up. He looked back at her. "Why'd ya stop?"

"Turn over." He looked confused but flipped over. She straddled him again and he swallowed, biting the inside of his lip. She slid her hands up his chest. He closed his eyes and held back a groan. His hands automatically made their way to her bare hips and squeezed. She smirked and leaned down pushing her lips to his. His eyes flew open and he stared at her. He pushed her back holding her by her shoulders gently.

"How much did you have to drink?" he asked. She only giggled and leaned down to kiss him again. He held her shoulders back and sat up, forcing her to shift back. He swallowed before taking a deep breath. "I think you need to go to bed before..."

"Before what?" Kira asked as she slid her arms up his chest and started to kiss his neck.

"Before we do something you regret." he breathed, closing his eyes as he gripped her hips again. In a split second Kira was on her back on the couch, legs wrapped around Daryl's waist while he kissed her neck and his fingers dug into her skin. One of Kira's hands gripped the back of his shirt while the other went into his hair. Kira gasped as Daryl ground his hips against hers. He nipped at her skin making her moan his name directly into his ear. Daryl groaned and pulled away. "Kira we can't." he said. Kira started to pout.

"Of course we can. I know you want to." she said as she wrapped her legs tighter around him; she smirked when she felt him poking her.

"Yer drunk."

"So are you." Kira said before she tried to pull his head down for a kiss.

"Not drunk enough ta take advantage of ya." Daryl said pulling his head back. "We should just go to sleep."

"Awe." she whined as Daryl shifted their positions so they were both lying in the couch. "Will you sleep with me Dare-Bear?" Kira asked with a smile as she sat up to look down at him. Daryl grimaced.

"Don't.. Don't call me that." She giggled and laid down on the couch, tugging his arm.

"Hold me Dare-Bear." she said slipping a leg between his. He swallowed and tried to ignore it.

"What did I just say?" he said with a small glare. Kira only giggled.

"You're so.. _sexy_ when you're angry." she said sliding a hand up his chest.

"Go to sleep." he said closing his eyes. She giggled before hugging him and putting her head on his chest. He sighed and put his arm around her and they fell asleep.

* * *

 **Sorry this took forever but I kinda forgot about this story.**


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